SETsquared university business incubator ranked global number one

Partnership including Universities of Bath and Bristol sets the standard for university incubators worldwide

25th November 2015

It’s a great day for entrepreneurs in Bristol and Bath as the national university business incubator SETsquared has been declared the best in the world in UBI Global’s world ranking list. It’s not too surprising, SETsquared has created 9,000 new jobs and contributed £3.8 billion to the UK economy.

SETsquared is a partnership between the universities of Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey and has offices in Bristol’s Engine Shed and the Bath’s Innovation Centre.

“SETsquared has supported over 1,000 hi-tech business startups to develop and raise over £1 billion in investment”

The UBI Index is the first global index to benchmark the performance and best practice of university business incubators. The organisation held continental rankings around the world, culminating in the global ranking event in London today.

Startups succeed with SETsquared

Dhruv Bhatli, Co-founder and Director of Research at UBI Global, said “We’re delighted to see SETsquared be named as the best in the world. The partnership’s continued dedication to entrepreneurs and startups has resulted in high economic impact and growth for the companies it supports.”

SETsquared stats:Impressive achievements from the university tech business incubator

As shown above, in the 13 years since its inception SETsquared has supported over 1,000 hi-tech business startups to develop and raise over £1 billion in investment, while they estimate a further £15 billion to be contributed to the national economy over the next 10 years. The partnership currently supports 265 companies across its centres.

“SETsquared works extremely hard to fulfill our commitment to helping entrepreneurs and startups and the ranking is a real testament to the skill and innovation of our staff”

Nick Sturge (pictured left), Director of the Bristol SETsquared Centre run by the University of Bristol, said “This caps another fantastic year for us. It also marks our second full year in Engine Shed, and this has proved exceptionally useful. SETsquared in Bristol continues to evolve and we remain on the lookout for the most exciting, high-tech, high-growth startup and established businesses.

“This award demonstrates the holistic value that we can add to businesses, wherever they have come from and whatever the sector. Bristol is now even better placed for growth. With this award and the stronger local investment eco-system, the future is very, very bright.”

“The news is validation of the University of Bath’s research excellence and the high calibre of entrepreneurs there”

Zynstra, the Bath-based hybrid IT services company and member of SETsquared Bath is the latest award-winning success story for the incubator after they took home the 2015 UK IT Industry Award for Infrastructure Innovation of the Year, beating nine other top UK companies for the award.

“The news is validation of the University of Bath’s research excellence and the high calibre of entrepreneurs there”

Ali Hadavizadeh, deputy head of enterprise at SETsquared’s innovation centre at the University of Bath (pictured right below), said: “The University of Bath Innovation Centre is one of the founding members of the SETsquared partnership, so we’re extremely proud to have been globally ranked number one. The news is validation of the University of Bath’s research excellence and the high calibre of entrepreneurs there, coupled with SETsquared’s regional strength in attracting talented individuals who are engaged in the hi-tech sector.

University of Bath: One of the founding members

“Through our engaging business support and incubation activities, we’re able to nurture these entrepreneurs and add value to their propositions by preparing them for the investor community and creating jobs and wealth at local, national and international levels.”

SETsquared moved up the rankings from second last year and now sits above some of the world’s best university business incubators in London today, as well as several internationally acclaimed centres including the Innovation Incubation Center at Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan and The DMZ (Digital Media Zone) at Ryerson University, Toronto.

“It’s an incredible achievement to be recognised as the best university incubator in the world,” said Simon Bond, Innovation Director, SETsquared, “we’re all absolutely ecstatic with the news. Everyone involved with SETsquared works extremely hard to fulfill our commitment to helping entrepreneurs and startups and the ranking is a real testament to the skill and innovation of our staff, as well as showing how vital our services are in each area we operate in.”

If you’d like to learn more about SETsquared, officially the world’s best university incubator, then visit the SETsquared website or follow them on Twitter @SETsquared